A Day in the Vineyards of Bergerac

Close enough to Bordeaux to attract interest from wine lovers in the know who are interested in excellent wines at affordable prices but far enough away not to be Parkerized, the wines of Bergerac are becoming a bigger part of my cellar. We began with a visit to Maison des Vins de Bergerac facing the “port” for maps and brief history of local viticulture. There are daily tastings hosted by vignerons.

In an effort to repay Eric and Diane for their hospitality at their Chateau Ladausse we invited them to join us for a day of tasting Bergerac wines.

Close enough to Bordeaux to attract interest from wine lovers in the know who are interested in excellent wines at affordable prices but far enough away not to be Parkerized, the wines of Bergerac are becoming a bigger part of my cellar. We began with a visit to Maison des Vins de Bergerac facing the “port” for maps and brief history of local viticulture. There are daily tastings hosted by vignerons.

Martin Walker all day long. The former foreign corespondent for the Guardian and author of the Bruno, Chief of Police mysteries set in the fictional town of Saint-Denis (Le Bugue) is the region’s unofficial Ambassador to the English and German-speaking world. In conjunction with the Dordogne-Perigord Tourist Bureau he coordinated our tour of three of his favorite wineries.

Our first stop was La Vielle Bergerie where Pierre Desmartis consistently wins gold medals for his Bergerac Sec Cuvée Quercus. A blend of equal parts sauvignon blanc and muscadelle, the grapes are hand-picked, aged in oak for six months and at 8.50 euros the bottle, several found their way back to Paris.

We tasted over a dozen wines ranging from the Cuvée Jacques Desmartis 2011 at 4.50 euros to the Queen of the maison, a 2009 Monbazillac (55% muscadelle, 45% semillon) aged in oak for 24 months. It is golden yellow and liquereux like the great sauternes-at 19.50 the bottle it will partner with foie gras chez moi.

We were joined for lunch at Les Merles by Monsieur François-Xavier de Saint-Exupery, nephew of the author of Le Petit Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery. He brought two bottles of his Chateau Tiregand Grand Mellésime Pécharmant 2008 and 2009 to be drunk with lunch and to show us the sharp difference in the two vintages.

A lovely setting on a beautiful day so we dined on the terrace. I was pleasantly surprised to find Bitterballen on the menu so a round for the table was quickly ordered while Monsieur de Saint-Exupery decanted the wine.

After lunch we followed Monsieur Saint-Expery to the chateau where we tasted other wines including the Chateau Tiregand that is available at NICOLAS for 11 euros. Guided tours are available in English in July and August on Tuesdays and Fridays (Except bank holidays) at 2:30PM.

Jazz, Wine and dinner! Reservations: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Now properly pickled we soldiered on to Les Verdots where the Fourtout family has been making wine in the region for 4 generations. David Fourtout is currently in charge of maintaining the family reputation.Thanks to his ambition and knowledge, he has brought a drop of complexity, a hint of house style, and a pinch of innovation to his wines that has improved the reputation of Bergerac wines.

After an exchange of several bisous we bid Eric & Diane a fond farewell and went off in search of our chambre d’hote, the aptly named Au Bon Acceuil in the hillside village of Limeuil. Thierry and Véronique represent the best of unpretentious hospitality. The four rooms are clean and cozy but the kitchen was a true surprise. From the 20 euros menu we started with house-smoked salmon, roast cabillaud and vegetables for M coquilles Saint-Jacques withparmesan risoto. Dessert was vanilla ice cream, alcohol marinated prunes and chantilly. A perfect way to end a perfect day.

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